View from Vulture's Row

On a ship as historic as the USS Enterprise some things never change, such as the beautiful view from Vulture's Row. The aircraft, however, have changed slightly over the years. A-3 Skywarriors, A-4 Skyhawks, F-4 Phantoms, and RA-5C Vigilantes have since been retired from the Navy's inventory. The A-6 Intruder was taken out of service in 1996, but a modified version of the A-6 is still flown aboard the Big E today, as the EA-6B Prowler. The two open hatches to the left of Cat 1 are the forward weapons elevators; ordnancemen are busy bringing up missiles to be loaded on these distinguished flying machines of war. This photo was taken by AO3 Jon Krokey in 1966, nearly 30 years before I took another photo while standing in Jon's footsteps.